Samhain

chapter nineteen: where they follow

He can only run away so many times before they stop looking for him.

The underground tunnels vault high into the ceiling, lined with ominous spirals of dark black rock that reach into the abyss for miles. Billboards line either side of the highway, advertising the various tourist traps and tempting horrors that each circle of hell has to offer. Shiny black tinsel and white, sun-bleached bones dangle between the street lamps like fairy lights.

Huh. The Parks and Recreation department must have decorated for Halloween.

Wooyoung rides his broom down the bike lane. It's a simple, oakwood broom with no extra flair or enhancements. He doesn't use it often, but he does take it out every once in a while when he needs to travel long distances.

Never hovering more than a few inches off of the ground, he flies past the standstill traffic at the entrance to the underworld. Various demonic symbols for the words 'bike' and 'pedestrian' are painted into the ground below.

He touches the solid bottom of despair and there takes comfort.

Purgatory, formally known as the first circle of hell, is a street packed with hotels and bars large and flashy enough to rival the Vegas Strip. Hopping off of his broom to avoid a pack of photo-snapping tourists next to the historic 'Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here' sign, Wooyoung was met with a cacophony of sirens, honking vehicles, and loud, drunken bar-crawlers.

Tucking his broom under one arm, he passes by a group of centaurs sporting matching 'birthday crew' shirts, some irate dwarves getting kicked out of a pub, and a pair of street-performing witches creating illusions for spare change.

The noisy, glittering street amounts to a dull, unending thrum in his ears. In the midst of the glamorous chaos, he wonders if they are even searching for him at all.

Constant phone calls from Yunho eventually faded into one call every few hours. Wooyoung's thumb hovers over voicemail number twenty-seven. With a slow, reluctant breath, he presses play and braces himself for what Yunho has to say.

It opens with distant arguing in the background, words hardly audible over the muffled sound of wind breezing against the speaker.

"The fact that you're not answering leads me to believe that you're either A - in grave danger, B - got lost on your way back, or C - ignoring my calls. If it's A or B, please call me back. If it's C, I hope you realize I'm not gonna stop calling until you pick up. I'm sorry, Woo, I should've -"

The voicemail ends abruptly when his phone dies, and his best friend's voice fades. Wooyoung looks up from his phone, shoving it into his back pocket with numb hands.

Maybe Yunho is right; maybe they do 'just want to talk' like he said in his nineteenth voicemail. Wooyoung wishes he could be comforted by the fact that they haven't given up on him as he has given up on himself.

Every step forward is an effort, feet feeling weighed down by the fate he has sealed for himself. He is already resigned to finding and killing the shadow creature on his own. To finally put an end to this mess he has created.

Wooyoung has always been confident in himself, almost to a fault. The greatest driving force in his life was being misunderstood and ignored by everyone around him. He's worked hard to always come out on top, to push himself forward knowing that power and accomplishments could earn him respect.

Lately, moving ahead has been hard. All he can do is remember. All he sees behind his eyelids are the faces of his friends. All he hears in the laughter and shouting in the street are the pack's voices, whispering for him to come home.